Ivory Beach

The Secret HavenCalatagan, Batangas

Most of us know that there’s a popular Burot beach in the southwestern part of Batangas. But many of us don’t know that there’s actually what I call a secret beach but not hidden to the public. This is Ivory beach. A long stretch of off-white sand beach adjacent to Burot about 2 kilometers farther. There are two ways to get to Ivory beach, one through Cavite and one through Tagaytay City. In our case we drove from Ortigas Center at 3am to Tagaytay for a cup of coffee to keep us awake. We arrived in Lian town proper at 5:40am and bought necessary things like food, water, a pan and a grill for cooking. The fish and vegetables in Lian is very cheap except for meat products. Don’t forget to bring your own cooler or ice bucket so you can preserve your goods.

Look for the sign board on the right to Ivory Beach, it’s not that visible. It was already 6:30am when we arrived and upon entering the gate, the pathway is not concrete, it’s completely a rocky road stretched to about 200 meters down to the beach. Along the way you can see the house of the owner to the far right and the house of the care taker on the side. They will greet you upon entering and brief you about what you can do and the necessary fees. I tell you this is a budget friendly course! The entrance to the beach is only Php100 each for a day tour or Php200 each for an overnight stay plus Php100 to pitch a tent. They don’t have a tent set-up for you so don’t forget to bring your own tent because it’s freezing at night.

During the day you can enjoy a peaceful vacation. Yes, it is peaceful and not crowded even on a Friday and Saturday because this is a secret beach. In the vicinity you get a good shade from the tree, with a nice view of the beach. They have a small grill for cooking but it’s rusted since it has been used many times by campers so we had to use ours. They have 24-hour electricity and an extension cord right where you pitch your tent and a table provided by the care taker. The care taker can also cook rice for you at a reasonable price for only Php50 but we gave them Php100 since they are very nice to us. They even marinated the meat for us before we put them on the flaming grill. They have 4 Shower and 4 toilet cubicles in one row and 4 outdoor showers with 3 outdoor sinks.

It was low-tide when we arrived. I couldn’t help it, my body was calling to indulge myself to the sea. Great! low-tide it is. Nonetheless I still enjoyed swimming going a little farther near the dark blue part. This beach is awesome! it is very powdery, clean and clear! You can see small fish swimming behind you. Pumped boat owners offer island hopping for a reasonable price of Php600 for 2 or rent a bigger boat for Php2000 good for 15 pax not bad right? Whether you’re up for island hopping or skip that part by just sun bathing and still you get a “worth staying” vacation at a quiet beach right here.

During low-tide, you can stroll along the stretch of sand bars by the shore. It is also a perfect time to stake your Large umbrella, lay down your towel, put on some sun block and expose yourself to the glimmering sun. Don’t forget to put on your sunglasses, earphones and enjoy sun bathing while listening to your favorite playlist. Just be careful not to lay your camera lenses or mobile phones directly to the sand, it is the most harmful element that can damage your devices. You don’t want to see a lot of scratches on your screen.

When on the west coast, it is always a wait-to-see for the sun to come down to hide. The sunset in Ivory beach is so lovely. Observe the best part where the sun touches the sea and to complete darkness. The stars shines brightly in the evening unlike in Manila, you can’t hardly see the stars in the evening. I just want to share a reminder, please don’t leave your tent or valuables unattended. There are outsiders selling souvenirs in the vicinity and might as well take precautionary measures to secure your belongings.

Another concern is that Globe Telecom coverage is not quite good in the area. If you’re a smart user then you have a good spot anywhere here. Also, if you need to take a bus from Taft to Calatagan Batangas, call the bus operators (Crow or Ceylerosa Bus) the first trip to Calatagan is at 4am and last trip is at 4:30pm. From the Calatagan Bus Terminal, take a tricycle ride to Ivory beach that costs about Php100-Php150 each. Prepare for the fun and bumpy ride. There’s not too much activities on the beach. This is purely for those who want to relax in a quiet beach like this. I can suggest that you can also do kite flying and bonfire.

There’s so much to take when you’re on the beach and if you’re with your special someone or maybe if you’re the type of a silent beach goer like me. I spent just about less than Php1000 for this trip.

Please comment below if you have questions about this story and I’ll be happy to answer all your question and update the topic from time to time.

Always endure to the fullest and take #OneStepForward to fulfilling your dreams!

UPDATE: Sadly the care taker don’t have contact or mobile numbers when I went there, so please send me an update if you get a hold of the caretaker’s contact number for other readers and the people who are going to visit the place in the future. This place hasn’t been developed yet and they don’t have cottages. This is perfect for campers with their own tents. This is a Child-Friendly beach. You can follow the commuters guide in this story or you can drive directly. More or less the total budget each person including food, transpo, entrance and tent is Php700-800 and worth the visit.

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Erick is a young entrepreneur who advocates Work-Life Balance for after all everyone deserves a break! He is an event host, a singer and a musician. He plays the piano, flute and the violin. Also, he is the Managing Director of ALaZ Philippines PR & consultancy and the owner of Omega Health Supplements. He is a nature, travel and a LifeStyle enthusiast and impart his experiences through this site.
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When it’s low tide, you can take a walk to the left side of the resort and you will see a man-made stone way and at the end of it is like a cross. It’s a great spot to take in pictures of sunset because the view is perfect. Just be careful with the stone way because it is really slippery and the bottom of it are huge sea urchins with sharp spines .

Hello! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. It is indeed a quiet place to stay. The kind of beach where you can spend a lone time or solitude. It is a perfect place to be. Try it with your friends! Cheers!

Hello Dee, Thank you for this question. Sadly the care taker don’t have contact or mobile numbers. This place hasn’t been developed yet and they don’t have cottages. This is perfect for campers with their own tents. You can follow the commuters guide in this story or you can drive directly. The entrance fee is Php200/pax + Php100 to pitch a tent. More or less the total budget each person including food, transpo entrance and tent is Php700-800 and worth the visit.

Hello Joann, Thank you for taking the time to read the story. When I went to visit the place there was a a family of four with 2 kids of 6 and 7 years old. They also stayed in the tent. The place is child-friendly. It has a wide and long Golden-Brown sand beach and the first 20 meters of water from the shore was never deep, it’s just knee level and nearly did not rise during high-tide. The back of this tent is a very wide grassy loan perfect for kite-flying and very safe to children to run around. This is a private place and no outsiders are allowed in the evening. Overnight stay costs Php200 (entrance per pax) and Php100 to pitch a tent. You are required to bring your own tent because they don’t have tents available neither cottages.

Enjoyed the blog. Very descriptive and contains a lot of useful information, and the pics arent bad either! Keep it up, I will definitely follow in your footsteps one day in one of your previous destinations.

Hello, I’d take that as a complement. I am happy that you find my story useful and inspiring and I will continue to write informative experiences so that others can enjoy the same. I will write more stories in this blog. Thank you for following! God bless! =)

Hello Elvie! Ceylerosa bus terminal is next to Maricaban and is located in Pasay City, it’s along taft ave. Their first trip is at 4am to Calatagan, Batangas. When you arrive at the calatagan bus terminal, take a trike to ivory beach. The fare is about 100-150 pesos you can try to haggle for 100 if you have a companion which I think you would. If you are going on a private car you can use waze via Tagaytay City because the road through Cavite is not safe and very narrow. Stop over at Lian town proper and buy your food.

Hello KC! The beach is open to all campers. You can walk right in to this resort and pitch your tent. No need for reservation. This place is not so crowded. Hopefully not after I posted this on facebook. The resort is big and i think 300 tents can occupy the space. But really it’s a quiet place. Enjoy your vacation!

Good afternoon Sir,
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. Been looking for a place like this, so thank you. I just want to know if yong sedan type ba na car pwede makapasok sa resort? Rough road po ba? And from express way, anong exit yong pwede namin daanan para makapunta sa calatagan? Thank you in advance sa reply. More power to you sir!

Hello Ishi! Thank you because you my story useful. Sedan is okay the off road part is just rocky about 100 meter and the other 100m is sand to the beach. Min is suzuki swift hatchback. The road wont hurt the car anyway. Also, you can take Sta.Rosa exit to Tagaytay. When you get to tagaytay use waze to ivory beach Calatagan Batangas. If you use waze prior to driving it will direct you to use Cavite waypoint. The place is very queit. I hope you will enjoy your stay. Have fun!

Hello Ai, thank you for reading. In our case we brought our own grill. There was a grill there but it was rusted with dirt. You can drop by at the public market they sell grills for only 40 pesos and you can clran ang bring it everywhere you go camping. 😊